(photo by wm. christman)
If you needed any proof that the Japanese are a food-centric culture, just take a walk through any district in Tokyo and witness the seemingly hundreds of restaurants per square mile. Further cementing the claim to their obsession with food can be seen in the line up of food programs on Japanese television which comprise about 40% of the airtime.
There are as many internal variations of Japanese food as there are of world cuisines in Japan with French and Italian being on the upper end of the popularity scale. This extends to all manner of food categories as well. In the past few years there has been an explosion of higher-end boulangeries and pâtisseries that nourish the food obsessed. And there's no better example of this category than the French-inspired Viron.
(photo by wm. christman)
Viron's Shibuya branch store is a densely packed collection of beautiful looking bread and pastry, bustling clerks, intense bakers and lit ovens. Since the baked goods are the attraction, you see those first. But beyond the counters lies the real heart of the operation and just taking a moment to scan the activity back there shows an intensity that relates to the goods upfront.
The sheer number of breads alone is staggering. Lots of them feature regular and "demi" sizes so the temptation is high to buy many in one go. But it's the baguette that is really the star of this show. If you order them, you get the ones directly from the last batch made and not from the counter display. Crisp, chewy and very, very French. Croissants, cookies, macarons, and other delights line the glass shelves as well.
rillettes and cornichon on baguette (photo by wm. christman)
There are also 8-10 varieties of sandwiches made with the fresh baguettes. Half a baguette is split and piled with different meats and/or cheeses plus vegetables. As I find it hard to pass up any type of rillettes, the rillettes and cornichon sandwich was my favorite. And it couldn't have been more simple: great bread, soft and nearly creamy rllettes and the tang of cornichons. It truly needed nothing else.
pain aux lardons (photo by wm. christman)
I could have easily spent a half hour gazing at all the varieties of goods from dense, sticky canneles to pain aux lardons to delicate-looking pain au chocolat. And I could have easily spent all of the money in my wallet as Viron's offerings are not on the inexpensive side. But as with most things worth buying, you really get what you pay for and sampling a few of Viron's creations was definitely worth the extra yen.
